Goop

I'm usually a day late and a dollar short on these things so if you have already heard of Goop by Gweneth Paltrow move along nothing left to read here. But if you haven't heard of it {don't feel bad I just found it literally 5 minutes ago} Goop is a website with articles and newsletters written by Gweneth. Her subjects span from travel to motherhood, fashion to cooking and everything else in between that most moms find interesting.

Normally I wouldn't be interested in a celebrity website. I gave up following celebrity gossip years ago and life has been much more peaceful since. In fact, I still remember the night at our local dive bar where my friends told me that Brad and Jen were breaking up. Admittedly I did buy the magazine where Jen spilled her beans but that's the last time I got sucked back in. Sadly I don't have to watch those crazy Hollywood shows to know what's happening, these days celebs make the national news shows.

But I digress. Like I said normally I wouldn't be interested but after looking through her site I am intrigued. Naturally her posts on food, books and child friendly restaurants had me hooked since I, as most moms do, love these topics. But I also really liked the simplicity of the her website. In the days of pop ups, unnecessary background music and blinking/scrolling text, it's nice to visit a clean and simple site.

Goop also offers newsletters via email if you don't have an extra 10 minutes in your day to check out the website. Let's face it, some days I don't have an extra 10 minutes to brush my teeth so I appreciate the email option. I may already be hooked.

Lemon Fusilli with Arugula

Warm days like today call for a cold pasta salad for dinner if you ask me.

Recently I tried Ina's Lemon Fusilli and Arugula recipe. As usual, she doesn't disappoint. In fact I liked this recipe so much that I made a double batch for Ozzie's 1st birthday party.

Her recipe actually calls for the salad to be served warm or room temperature but I think it's equally delicious cold.

Before making the salad, I read a lot of reviews to omit the lemon zest because the salad is lemony enough without it. I'm glad I followed that advice because the salad was very lemony and I am thinking the lemon zest would have been too much. So if you give this salad a try, leave out the lemon zest unless of course you love the taste of lemons.

Lemon Fusilli with Arugula from Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 cups heavy cream
3 lemons
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch broccoli
1 pound dried fusilli pasta
1/2 pound baby arugula (or 2 bunches of common arugula, leaves cut in thirds)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds.

Add the cream, ,the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stem. Cook the florets in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta in a colander and place it back into the pot.

Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add the arugula, Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli.

Cut the last lemon in half lengthwise, slice it 1/4-inch thick crosswise, and add it to the pasta. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.

If I make this again, I'd also omit the lemon slices. The pasta really does not need it.

If you are serving the cold left overs the next day try adding chicken slices, shrimp or smoked salmon. We added smoked salmon for Ozzie's birthday party and it was truly delicious. Yet another knock out Ina recipe for the recipe binder. Enjoy!

Chew On This

As I've mentioned before I decided to grow my own herbs and vegetables this summer after reading Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I have really enjoyed it and am already planning what will be in my garden next summer.

When I saw this chart from www.chewonthis.org ,which helps unseasoned {pun intended} cooks like me learn the best parts of the herb and how each herb can add life to food, I knew I had to have it. The reverse side also offers preservation and storage tips as well as a few recipes. I am going to pick one up to help me decide on new herbs to add to next year's garden. I think it's a must have for every household.

*photo courtesy www.chewonthis.com

Beautiful Boxes

I saw these lovely storage boxes in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living and thought they would make perfect storage boxes for Ozzie's photos and soon to come art work.

I love that the boxes are not your basic black. The aqua and red would add a nice bit of color to my drab home office. In fact, aqua and red are one of my favorite color combinations this year. Remember the bloody Father's Day card that I made Oscar? Obviously I was going for a this look when I paired the aqua and red versus the bloody hand print I ended up with. Hey, I've always said that I am an amateur crafter at best.

Martha offers labels to personalize the boxes on her website. Click here to download them for free! The boxes are available at Bellocchio.com.

These boxes would make an excellent gift for me or you!

Let the Sun Shine

The sun is making it's way back to Seattle this week. Unfortunately for us Seattelites, the sun likes to disappear for a few days {or weeks} during the summer but most of the time it comes back. That is until mid to late September when it goes away for good until next year.

Most of us appreciate the short break from the sun and welcome the rain for our lawns and gardens. We are, after all, the evergreen state. Though after a few weeks, we get antsy and want the sun back. Luckily this year summer is not over yet! The local forecast says this week will even hit the high 80's.

I think Oscar and Ozzie are ready! Here are some pictures of Ozzie and Oscar playing with their sunglasses on two different mornings. I think they both crack themselves up. Like father like son...

Posole with Garnishes

While reading through the blogs that I follow, I was intrigued by this post at Over Cocktails. I've tried of few of Colleen's recipes before and have really enjoyed them. So when I saw this one I wanted to give it a try since I am always trying to find new recipes to keep the family out of a food rut. Also I knew Oscar would enjoy this since he is Hispanic. He loves it when I try new Mexican dishes especially something he has grown up eating from his Mom's kitchen. This is probably the reason I don't cook a lot of Mexican dishes. The comparison is like night and day.

The recipe is originally from my favorite, Ms. Martha, click here for her version.

I pretty much followed Martha's recipe but made a few changes. Below is my version.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
One 20 ounce can hominy, drained
1 small jalapeno pepper, diced
1 pound tomatillos, diced (about 3 cups)
1 bunch Kale, coarsely chopped
5 - 6 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 whole chicken, cooked and shredded

GARNISHES
1 bunch radishes, very thinly sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, very thinly sliced
1 small avocado halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion finely diced with 1 teaspoon dry oregano sprinkled on top
2 limes, quartered
Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook onions for 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes
Add cumin and salt and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds
Add hominy, jalapenos and tomatillos, stirring for 1 minute
Add Kale, chicken stock, bay leaves and shredded chicken
Cover and cook until Kale is tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes
Remove bay leaves and ladle into bowls
Garnish each with onion, cilantro, avocado, limes and jalapeno to taste

I chose kale over Swiss chard because Oscar and I prefer kale. I omitted the sour cream and added the dried oregano over the onions to make the dish a little more authentic. Also the avocado tastes better sliced on the side than diced and added to the warm soup. Something about the texture of warm avocado screams, "NO!" to me.

Oscar loved it but said it didn't taste anything like authentic Posole. He said it definitely tastes Latin but more like Tortilla Chicken Soup than Posole. He did give me a thumbs up for adding it to the recipe binder so I know it was good.

Ironically I made it on the first warm and sunny day in a few weeks around Seattle but I know it will warm our cold bones this fall and winter.

Below is the Posole with and with out garnishes.

If you haven't checked out Colleen's blog, give her a look. She offers quite a few recipes that both Oscar and I have liked. Enjoy!

And Speaking of Ozzie

Now that he is one he has graduated to a forward facing car seat. Can you tell I am a first time mother who celebrates every little milestone with a blog post?


I combined Ozzie's Christmas money from his great grandparents and his grandparents and bought him the highly recommended {and can I just add ridiculously expensive? thanks goodness for grandparents and great grandparents} Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat. The good thing is that it holds children up to 65 lbs. so as long as Ozzie doesn't object I'm keeping him in it and getting my moneys worth!


We actually ordered it back in April and have been patiently awaiting his 1st birthday in order to make the car seat switcheroo. Ozzie could care less about the car seat but LOVED the box it came in. He could have played with that box all afternoon. Like I said I ordered the car seat a few months ago so these pictures are a little dated but he's having such a blast in the box I wanted to share them anyway.





Ozzie just loves to smile for the camera.


This is my favorite. The expression on his face looks like he should be shouting, "Ahoy there matey!"

The darn box was taller than him!

Check out those bangs! This was obviously pre-big boy haircut. I don't know why I spend any money on toys when all the kid wants to play with is the TV remote control, tupperware, boxes and the pots and pans.

Speaking of Martha

She also offered two great after school snacks with apples that I immediately added to the recipe binder. On a side note, why is everyone already in back to school mode? It's only August 14th people, our summers are short enough in Seattle. Can't we just enjoy the rest of August?

Now back to the snacks. The first is an english muffin topped with apple slices and cheddar cheese. Yum! Click here for the directions from Martha. You could also use tomatoes and any variation of your favorite cheese.

The second was an apple filled with chicken salad. I actually could not find this on her website after watching the video On Demand. It's really simple though. She cut the top off an apple and scooped out the middle with a melon baller then filled it with premade chicken salad. Sounds delicious.

Lately I have had a craving for a crisp and tart apple. Luckily Washington apple season is just around the corner. Come January I will be sick of apples and dreaming of fresh berries so I must make these treats now while apples are on my mind. Enjoy!

A New Take on PB&J

Earlier today I was interrogating a good friend of mine on her milk/sippy cup and feeding routines for her twins. Now that Ozzie is one we have weaned him from nursing, except bedtime, which I'm postponing for fear of how it will go over. I really didn't want to think of my own milk/sippy cup routine. I just wanted to copy another Mom who I trust. Post gull bladder surgery it's easier not to have to think stuff out sometimes.

After she gave me the skinny on her nourishment rituals she mentioned that her girls love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. This reminded me of a MS on Demand video that I recently watched. Yes I watch MS on Demand. It's a feature on Comcast Cable and I love it. Always have and always will love Martha.

Back to the sandwiches, Martha prepared four new twists on an old favorite that sounded good enough for me to eat let alone a little one. So I thought I'd share them with you and my friend Tams.

In order of my favorite:

1. Peanut butter with strawberry jam, granola and a banana. Top peanut butter side with granola and layer banana slices on jam. I bet when the two collide it's pure genius!

2. Peanut butter with marshmallow fluff and blueberries. Who doesn't love marshmallow fluff? Also a great sandwich right now with blueberries in season.

3. Peanut butter with apple slices and raisins drizzled with maple syrup. Make sure to use a madoline slicer to achieve very thin apple slices. Can't wait to try this in the Fall with a fresh Washington apple.

4. Peanut butter with thawed frozen cherries and drizzled with honey. Martha suggests frozen cherries here because no one wants to spend their time pitting cherries. My only concern is the texture of the frozen cherries after they have thawed. You know how little ones are about food texture.

I also found these sandwiches here on Martha's website.

Sadly Ozzie's pediatrician said no peanut butter until he is two so Mommy will just have to sample these delicious sandwiches for him until then. I am adding "purchase a madoline slicer" to the to do list now. I never thought about it before but a madoline slicer will probably make a lot of foods just the right thickness while Ozzie is still teething.

Tamara, I'm hoping these sandwiches taste as good as they looked. Thanks again for your advice!

Feathered Friends

Today I participated in The Shabby Chic Cottage's Feathered Friends Party by adding this link to my blog.

SCC is a fun new blog that I just started following. She, as do I, has a love for birds and decided to throw a virtual party today asking her followers to share their bird love.

Although I have a few bird cages, some little birdie tchotchkes, a bird print and one birds nest I didn't have time to take pictures of everything and link it up to her blog. Ozzie's afternoon nap was cut short by some very loud neighbors {grrrr} so all I had time to do was link my post about the lovely birds nests that are available at LittleRetreats, my favorite Etsy shop. I'm hoping I sent some new customers Brooke's way.

Attending a party through linking a blog post, that's social networking at it's best!